Mar 2, 2018 - Sossusveli to Twyfelfontein--a day in the air

Soussusveli to Mowant – day in the air – Feb 24 Up ‘dark and early” as the morning host at CBC would say. Paulo has checked and the Balloon ride is a go. It takes about ½ an hour to get there. There are 6 of us this morning, a young couple from Montreal, both graduates of Waterloo, and another couple. In the middle of a very open field, the Sky Boys were filling the balloon. They pump air into it, and when it is partially filled turn on the heat to fill it up. There are 16 of us, 4 in each compartment. Dennis, our captain is in the centre....

Mar 2, 2018 - Mowani Mountain Camp

12 Mowani Mountain Camp –Feb 25, 26 Usko was waiting for us at the airstrip. You can tell it is an airstrip because it has one small tent and a wind sock. The drive to our lodge was not long. The lodge consists of a main building/lounge and about 10 tented rooms, all tucked into and hidden by the big boulders. The land is a concession, run by local people. They lease the land to the lodges, but maintain control over what is built, how it is built, and where it is built. This lodge has gone to a lot of effort to leave the site intact, and...

Mar 1, 2018 - Sossusvlei Desert Lodge--sea of sand

9 Namibia – this is a quote from the Tourist Bureau. “Namibia is a country of almost-superlatives. The second-least densely populated country in the world is also one of the newest, and is home to some of the largest dunes, the darkest skies, the oldest cultures, the biggest conservation areas in Africa – to name but a few. We arrived at Sossusvlei Desert Camp after a very long drive from Wyndhoek, having stopped once for apple pie. For some reason apple pie is a big deal here, and what once was a small gas station has become THE place to...

Mar 1, 2018 - Sossusveli Desert Lodge

10 Sossusvlei Desert Camp – Feb 23 This morning we are again up bright and early. Paulo, the Manager, has pastries, juice and coffee ready for us. We are to be picked up at 5:50 for our balloon ride over the desert. The driver arrives, we sign our lives away, and head for the balloon. Part way there he gets a call to say that the wind is too strong and the ride is cancelled. We head back to camp. Hard to call it a camp, the rooms are superb. Huge living room with patios, bedroom on a separate level, bathroom with both indoor and outdoor...

Feb 23, 2018 - entry just to put location on map

The next day we wandered around Franschhoek for a while and then were picked up and taken to the airport for our flight to Windhoek in Namabia. The flight was uneventful and we arrived late afternoon. We are staying overnight in Windhoek prior to starting our visits to the Namabian nature reserves.

Sep 2, 2016 - Etosha National Park 2

Etosha National Park 2 31 August2016 Up at a modest 6 o'clock for breakfast ay 6.30. On the road by 7.30 to re-visit some of the waterholes and to visit the ones we missed yesterday. No queue at the Park gate, and amazingly we were through pretty quickly. As we had been in the Park yesterday they had our details on their computer! Started at Klein Namutoni, the Dik-dik Drive, Koinagas, Chudop, Kalkheuwel, Ngobib, and Springbokfontein, Batia, Okerfontien again, then along the Doring Drive to Namutoni, Klein Okevi, Groot Okevi and Tsumcor....

Sep 2, 2016 - Etosha National Park

30 August 2016 Still up early as we had to drive to our next tented camp on the other side of the Park, plus we wanted to see as much as we could of the animals. The Park closed at 5.30. A full breakfast today to keep us going, packed, loaded the car and we were off. There was a queue at the Park gates yesterday, but today only two cars in front of us, so quickly through (well as quickly as the Park Officials would allow!) and on to the first waterhole, Ombika, where we saw the lion yesterday, but no luck today, just the usual collection of...

Aug 31, 2016 - Mowani Mountain Camp

24 August 2016 Up at 5.30 to join the 'Elephant Drive', a particular speciality of the camps in the area, Damaraland. The elephants in question are desert adapted, they are smaller than their lowland cousins, have bigger feet to walk across the sands and can go longer without water So a quick breakfast then we joined our guide, Attan, into the 4x4 and off we went. Down the slope from the camp and out into the open, a few trees, mainly at the edge of the ephemeral rivers (only have water in them after heavy rains in the mountains). We saw a...

Aug 31, 2016 - Ongava Tented Camp

29 August 2016 Happy 60th Birthday, Ruth! Up early as we were going on a game drive, breakfast then joined the land rover for the drive. Pete and Donna joined us, they were a slightly older couple who had been on many trips to this part of the world. We headed out of the Ongava Reserve to the entrance gate for Etosha to join the queue. Passports required! After about 20 minutes we were in the Park, had to go to Okaukuejo for Leon to pay the entrance fees, this was not done at the gate for some strange reason, but hey, TIA (this is Africa!)....

Aug 31, 2016 - To Etosha

28 August 2016 Not too early a start today, no game drive. Opened the blinds to see eight oryx, led by a huge male, walking to the waterhole opposite our bedroom. They looked stunning in the early morning light. They circled the waterhole, checking out the nearby bushes, before going in for a drink. A leisurely breakfast, caught up on the news about the lions, Tullamore has met up with the lionesses, then back to the room to pack. The flight out wasn't until 10.15 so we had time to relax. I did wander over to the waterhole and discovered...

Aug 30, 2016 - Swakopmund to Mowani Mountain Camp

24 August 2016 Mowani Mountain Camp A long drive ahead of us today, some 500 km, so wve were up fairly earlt, breakfasted and on the road by nine. We drove north along the coast, a bright sunny day but lingering patches of fog near the beach. The landscape was pretty desolate, mile after mile of the salt road through flat sand and rock, occasional lichen fields, a few fisherman fishing off the beach,in the crashing waves. Soon passed Henties Bay and turned right to head inland, off the salt road and on to gravel roads. Steadily climbing...

Aug 25, 2016 - Blog Eight - Namibia Part Two

Blog Eight – Namibia Part Two Monday 22 August Not surprisingly we were up early packed, breakfasted and on the road by 7:00am and on our way to the western border of Etosha National Park and Andersson’s Camp. Today was a long day of driving with a planned stop at a Himba Village and a local school. Michael had purchased some basic supplies for the Himba people a few days back and we had also purchased stationery supplies for the kids at the school. We were farewelled by some giraffes and zebras and various bird life on the way out. We...